10 Things People Believe About the Illuminati

More reason to be paranoid: The Starbucks logo also shows signs of Illuminati domination. Geri Lavrov/Getty Images

As Illuminati watchers warn us, the members of the secret sect are so devious that they're not content merely to put their coded messages on U.S. money. They also put them on the stuff we buy with it. According to YouTube videos posted by conspiracy theorists, the original 1971 Starbucks logo, which featured an innocuous, playful-looking twin-tailed mermaid, was actually a ruse. Turned upside down, it became a goat's head, an occult and satanic symbol associated with the Illuminati.

The latest, streamlined version, adopted in 2011 is filled with subtler but equally insidious symbols. The mermaid's crown, for example, has a star on it, which takes the place of the all-seeing eye on the pyramid that that the Illuminati inserted in in the Great Seal of the U.S. And let's not forget that mermaids themselves are actually malevolent supernatural creatures who lure unwary humans to their deaths, which makes them an apt symbol for the sinister aims of the Illuminati [source: FreemasonWorld].

On its corporate website, Starbucks naturally offers a more innocuous explanation, saying the mermaid actually is based upon 16th-century Norse woodcut that company officials stumbled upon while looking for nautical motifs, and is intended to be the "true, welcoming face of Starbucks." But what else would you expect "them" to say?